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To get the same breed, or different?...

OK so here's a little background, I have a 2yo CLM who is the best duck dog I have ever had. He sits calmly in the boat or field, does not break (at least so far), does not wine while waiting, makes excellent marks and multiple blind retrieves, can somewhat cast ( trained myself, never sent away for PRO training) excellent family pet and super friendly to everyone and any dogs. With that being said, I also pheasant hunt a lot and he is IMO not a pheasant hunting dog. He will make retrieves, flush, and hunt for them but never hard or fast. He will not work birds around anybody but me since he always stays within 30 yards at all times from me and comes to check in with me very frequently. Not saying this is a bad trait but not exactly what I want in a pheasant dog. So here's my question. Do I consider getting another lab for pheasant hunting only and keep him nice and calm for waterfowl. Or get a different breed all together? It would be nice for him to have a kennel mate also.

Note: I do not want to breeds dogs, that's not my department or expertise. He is a outside dog by himself in a very large 30'x50' outside kennel with heated dog house so there is plenty of room to put separate runs for two dogs.

I've always wanted a GSP for pheasants but like I said they will be outside dogs here in MN. Given I built a very nice large dog house with plenty of insulation and heat, winters still get to tough for short hair breeds. I've been looking at Brittany's but I may give those water spaniels a look now.

I have a Lab, GSP and Spinone. While the Spinone is neither as good a retriever as the Lab or as flashy a field dog as the GSP, he is good enough at pretty much everything. Had I known how to train him better 4 years ago I probably wouldn't have made my first comments. They are just stubborn and its something you have to deal with when they are young. In the field, they require very little training for guys that are just looking for hunting dogs. As retrievers, they are eager and talented (excellent swimmers) but they play lots of games when they are pups. They have a nose like no other dog and they are super intelligent. The lopey style is not for everyone, however.

On the guided pheasant hunts I have attended, the Lab outnumbers all other dogs 10 to 1. Have also hunted with a Munsterlander (?sp.) and a Drathaar. Nice dogs but the Labs put up more roosters. Buy what you want but most guides own Labs.

I tend to go for a quality dog, rather than trying out new breeds or colors. Labradors are a very hard breed to beat as gundogs; waterfowl or upland. Get a good one, and you have a strong dog for those uses.

Evan

"Prepare your dog in such a manner that the work he is normally called upon to do under-whelms him, not overwhelms him." ~ Evan Graham“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.”

For pheasants, I will always choose to shoot over brittanys. Just my personal preference. Your current lab might surprise you though with more exposure to the upland game. He sounds like my older female when she was younger. I hunted her exclusively on dove and waterfowl her first 2 years due to the low numbers of upland birds. But as the numbers came back I got her out on pheasants more and more. She wanted to stay near me at first and obviously didn't know what was going on for awhile, but we spent a lot of time working on quartering and once she started to learn there were birds out there to find, she turned into a really solid pheasant dog.

Start working your dog with some spaniels, they will show him a trick or two and since they cover a ton of ground fast, he will be encouraged to do the same in order to find birds or get left out. That said, a working UK line cocker is NOT for everyone! VERY busy in the house, super intelligent yet often VERY soft. They are often mixed with flying squirrel genes, as mine can bounce off of a hotel bed, and somehow end up on top of the 6 1/2ft tall entertainment center.
Springers are a lot more "low key" and they are great upland dogs. And if you have never had a dog with that type of coat, be prepared to be picking out burrs and sticky weeds.

Get a Springer if you want a flushing dog. Give Jason Givens or Paul Mcgagh a call. Jason Givens' kennel is Lighthouse and Paul McGagh's is Glencoe. You already have the cold weather waterfowling covered with your lab.